A thick blanket of snow has covered the upper reaches of Pir Panjal region, thus leading to dip in temperature affecting normal life.
Meanwhile, unscheduled power curtailments are further adding to the woes of people amid inclement weather conditions, including snowfall, which resulted in the closure of Mughal Road.
Upper reaches experienced snowfall for two days last week while plain and low-lying areas received rainfall.
Presently, upper reaches of Pir Panjal region, including Mandi, Saujiyan, Loran, Surankote, Mughal Road, Thanamandi, DKG, Darhal, Kandi, Budhal were under snow cover. Some parts of these upper reaches are having almost two feet of snow. This has resulted in the closure of mountain passes. Members of Gujjar-Bakerwal tribal community as well as Paharis have deserted their seasonal houses, called Dhoks, where they would go again in summer.
With snow-covered mountains, the temperature has witnessed a sharp decline in the region, especially during night hours. Chilly conditions are likely to continue till February.
Locals told Greater Kashmir that winter season as usual brought a lot of hardships for them, especially in terms of power supply.
Muhammad Tabraiz, a local, told Greater Kashmir that erratic power supply was the biggest hardship that people would face during winter.
“On one hand, there is decline in temperature due to snowfall, on other hand there is rise in power curtailment, especially unscheduled cuts and this badly affects the life of people,” said Tabraiz.
“The department concerned has failed to augment power infrastructure to meet power related issues during winter when the system remains overburdened,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tourist resort of Pahalgam was the coldest place in Kashmir and the resort witnessed coldest night of this winter as temperature dropped to minus 4.3 °C. MeT office has predicted further drop in the night temperature in coming few days.
Tourist resorts of Pahalgam and Gulmarg with minus 4.3°C and – 2.3°C were the coldest places in Kashmir. The MeT office in daily bulletin said Srinagar registered -1.4 °C on Monday night. Jammu recorded a minimum of 9.9 °C previous night. Leh in Ladakh recorded minus 10 °C.
MeT office has predicted cold nights for next four to five days, the officers said that fresh Western Disturbance could hit J&K next week which could bring rain and snow in the region.
Meanwhile, officials said historical Mughal Road was closed after avalanche hit the road in the afternoon. The efforts are underway to clear the road from avalanche.
